May 30, 1981: Whispers, Linx, Esther Williams, War, Future Flight

ODDS ‘N’ BODS

RICK JAMES on UK 12in turns out to be only the short 7in version, which is crazy, will lose Motown a smash and must place a premium on the rare US 12in promo remixes . . . Sugarhill’s legal mixer ‘The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel‘ is ruined by ghastly awful jerky stops and starts that are meant to be clever and precisely timed but will immediately throw dancers who’ve just settled into a groove . . . Groove’s forthcoming Latin-jazz material by Cayenne is – mmm! – tasty . . . Champagne has now picked up Proton Plus ‘Pay-Up’ . . . Jermaine Jackson is due on commercial 12in with remixed flip . . . EMI next month compile recent disco/soul hits like William DeVaughn, Cecil Parker, KID, on a ‘Don’t Stop’ LP . . . MCA have serviced radio with a 7in promo of Atmosfear ‘Creators Dream‘, which if they’re thinking of as a single release happens to be the coldest cut on the album . . . Odyssey in case you were worrying is 106bpm (not 181!), Krokus’s hit number is 125-127c, and Coati Mundi on UK 12in seems to be 111bpm . . . Magnet’s roving Tilly Rutherford tantalizingly says “Watch out for the 12in ‘Wade In The Water — Ramsey Lewis / Marlene Shaw”! . . . Reading’s Bank Holiday Monday all-dayer was the last all-dayer/niter the mafia intend to do, returning instead to build back the underground scene’s strength where it all started — in the clubs . . . Hambro Housley Legal Protection Ltd now supplies automatic free legal fees insurance to all members of the Disc Jockeys Federation which entitles jocks to pursue claims against third parties for injury sustained whilst at work with no worry about the cost of the proceedings (people tend to settle out of court once they know you’ve got the strength of an insurance company around you), details from the DJF (GB)’s Bill Forrester, 196 Stapleton Hall Road, London, N4 4QL (01 341 2785) silly not to? . . . Phil Blizzard’s recently printed phone number should have been 0782-263874 . . . London’s Lyceum starts a weekly roller disco on Monday (1) with Steve Walsh and Roger Kent and then for 36 hours over 16/17th June will have a marathon discothon (jocked for all 36 hours by manager Roger Rushton!) in aid of Year Of The Disabled — sponsors please call 01-636 3715 . . . Tricky Dicky’s gay Dicks Inn discos celebrate their 10th anniversary on Friday (29) with the Marvelettes live at Camden Town Hall in Euston Road, 8:30-midnight, but Dicky emphasizes the event is for mainly gay people and their friends . . . John Grant’s Friday mixture at Manchester’s Rufus in Fennel Street is UK releases, imports, reggae, slow soul and even some of the best EDM, while the specialist jazz-funk imports Wednesday night there has probably just started too by now . . . Paul Clark & Mick Fuller now jazz-funk Brighton Busby’s on Sundays with guest jocks planned every three weeks (they’re already there Thursdays too) . . . Nikki Peck’s Sunday re-opening of Gillingham’s Central Hotel venue has now been followed by Dave Flemming funking Fridays there too — he was one of the original jocks some six years ago when it was known as the R&B Club . . . Sheffield’s Jimmy Mack has moved to Derby Romeo’s & Juliet’s on Mondays . . . Russ Burcham, cheeky chappy (actually quite enterprising), offered his disco for The Wedding and got a charming letter back from the Master of the Household at Buckingham Palace, Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Ashmore KCB. KCVO. DSC, saying unfortunately arrangements are already well under way . . . However, those less well organized can book Russ on Billericay 22939 . . . Gary Woodford (01-866 9686), with or without his Mega Sound system, is looking for residencies on Mon/Wed/Thursdays . . . Keith Black (Warwick) returned from his Kenya holiday with “a really good conga-type party record sung in Swahili but going down a bomb at jolly gigs, Them Mushrooms Band ‘Kenya Kakuna Matata‘ (Kenyan Polydor), in fact flip of the ‘Funky Nassau’-type ‘Mombasa‘ . . . Frankie Smith ‘Double Dutch Bus’, better late than never, has just hit the US Hot 100 after slowly rising on the soul chart – nearly a year after it was hot here! . . . Sandy Martin (Swindon Brunel Rooms — where Radio Luxembourg recently recorded a live Disco Top 20 Show for broadcast on 22nd June, (when it’ll be really up to date) says, “With so many spine tingling soul ballads about, why doesn’t someone make a disco mix medley of love music all segued together, edited down and guaranteed to cause havoc on the dancefloor”, or even more at home, in private? . . . Hazel O’Connor’s superb sax is played by Wesley Magoogan, whose own ‘This Guy’s In Love With You’ was completely ignored a few months back . . . Lee Taylor (Mayfair Tokyo Joe) wonders how I calculate the BPMs, using a half minute sweep stopwatch and a hand tally counter on which to click off the beats so that my mind can be left free, I get a good idea after 10, 15, 20 and obviously 30 seconds what the full minute’s BPM should be (you multiply respectively by 6, 4, 3 and 2), so that if the BPM has speeded or slowed I then have to go back and do each bit of the record section by section to chart the fluctuation — this happens to take a hell of a long time, which explains why depending on the time available to me you sometimes get a varying number of reviews . . . Rush Release continue in their aim to control the entire disco business — they’ve just starting plugging for RCA too (if only they, or someone, would do it for WEA!) . . . Whispers chart-topper is massively down on support but still there’s nothing else in the rather stagnant upper chart reaches looking like a contender . . . DJs, last week’s request for charts should have asked for at least a Top 20 floor response listing, as often as possible . . . Gary Allan (Liverpool McMillan’s) reports one of the Gnomes, Phil Ford, accidentally played a white label of Soft Machine ‘Over ‘N’ Above‘ off the ‘Land Of Cockayne’ LP at 45rpm and discovered a rather good speed-spin . . . Chris Ellis of Staines Fusion Few was touched to get a nice letter and a quid for drinks from the Liverpool Gnomes when they couldn’t make his 21st party at Jacksons in Staines — however, the Groovin’ Gropers, Soulful Strollers, Party Jerks. Tony Jenkins (that well known tribe) and more did make it . . . In the words of Minnie The Moocher — HI DE HI DE HI DE HI!

UK NEWIES

THE WHISPERS: ‘I Can Make It Better’ (Solar SOT 19).
Annoyingly pointless doodling intro needs skipping before the busily burbling bass-backed 0-120-121bpm 12in smacker hits its stride and then it’s whack whack whack all the way, with few surprises but lots of simple power and slick finesse.

THE STRIKERS: ‘Body Music’ (Epic EPC A13-1290).
Although last week’s Dutch combination of the instrumental and vocal sides into one marathon new 12in version has come at an inopportune time for this the original, the record tends to monotony (and as Chris Hill says, “I only use about two minutes anyway!”), so this jitteringly tripping 123-124-125(guitar)-123(break)-124-125bpm 12in continuous rhythm burble with macho “huh huh” shouts and nice subdued synth and guitar should still be plenty long enough for most people, even still divided in two.

HEATWAVE: ‘Posin’ ‘Til Closin’ (GTO GT 13-294).
Remixed and speeded up lovely lushly rolling 109bpm 12in smooth thudder with great lyrics and which have already provided ammunition for some punter-direct sarcasm, flipped by the exquisite vibrant “shoobedoowah” filled 35-0bpm ‘Where Did I Go Wrong‘, my own fave from ‘Candles’.

VARIOUS: ‘Mutant Disco‘ LP (Ze ISSP 4001).
Excellent 6-track sampler intended to introduce to a wider audience the gay and futurist disco crowd’s favourite label for black music aimed at white folks who don’t like soul music, the long established killer being Was (Not Was) ‘Wheel Me Out’, a terrific unpredictable strange 125bpm smacker with everything from muttering to tootling trumpet and rattling percussion tied in to an electronic beat. Gichi Dan ‘Cowboys And Gangsters‘ is a Sylvester-ish jerkily chugging 0-125bpm pounder with honking sax, similarly rhythmic being the girlie group 126bpm Don Armando’s Second Avenue Rhumba Band ‘Deputy Of Love‘, while Kid Creole & The Coconuts ‘Maladie D’Amour‘ is a Dr Buzzard-ish bumpy rolling jolly 103-105bpm jolter quite like the also included 110bpm Coati Mundi ‘Que Pasa/Me No Pop I‘ and Material ‘Bustin’ Out’ is also on 12in (see below).

WAR: ‘Cinco De Mayo’ (US LAX WS8 02120).
Sensational fast happily romping 133-134bpm 7in Latin leaper in their usual vocal style so infectious that even if there is presumably an album in the oiling this is worth getting in the interim.

CANDI STATON: ‘Without You I Cry’ (US LA LA-8012).
Dave Crawford prod/penned immediately’ recognisable ‘Young Hearts’-style but slower steadily tripping jiggly 109bpm 12in creamy swayer makes great repetitive play of the first two title words and sounds so familiar that you can’t help but like it. The useful “instrumental” flip actually retains all the girlie back-up lines and some of Candi’s too.

SPECIAL DISCO MIX: ‘Love Is The Message’ (US One Way OW-002).
“Uno dues tres quatro” introed reputedly legal mixer 12in consists almost entirely of MFSB’s blandly thumping 116bpm instrumental O’Jays tune with merely a couple of clapping funk intrusions and a nice bit where the music fades back in time with and under a repeated “one two three four”. Why there’s a bit of a buzz about it I can’t imagine.

JUNY BOOM: ‘Rules Of The Game’ (US Snowflake SNO 500).
Opening with a great “Awright everybody shuddup – I said shuddup!” harangue from a realistically long suffering sounding schoolmaster with answering brats. This then becomes a fairly typical but effective 107bpm 12in rapper, whose fate probably depends on the interest-grabbing ability of the 34 second intro (which can mix through any instrumental tempo but hopefully will stand on its own despite its length). NY DJ Jellybean co-produced.

EXECUTIVE. ‘You Got The Stuff’ (US 20th Century-Fox TCD-123).
Energetically jittering 124bpm vocal group bouncer with pumping bass, braying brass and a vocoder break but not a lot of character to call its own, presumably exciting slight interest because it’s belatedly crept into the US soul chart.

Other tracks he plays are from Louis Prima, Quintet d’Hot Club De France, Jack Hylton, Paul Whiteman, Les Brown, Fred Waring, and the nostalgic like. One of my own regular mixes at parties is Ray Noble (Al Bowlly vocal) ‘Top Hat‘ (RCA LP), mixing just before the slower end into Harry Roy ‘Somebody Stole My Gal‘ (Starline LP), mixing just as the piano break begins into Sid Phillips ‘Hors D’Oeuvres‘ (HMV 10in LP), which is such energetic fun that it often then leads on to Lionel Hampton ‘Hamp’s Boogie Woogie‘ (live 1947 version) (London LP), after which anything is possible if they’ve the stamina left! You realise that these are trade secrets I’m giving you . . . and that with this type of material we’re talking about being able to charge real money for gigs? First, though, you’ve got to get the material, and that takes both dedication and an ear tuned to the unusual. Easier to find and another mix I do at just about every gig, which should test the temperature so to speak for things to follow, is Pasadena Roof Orchestra ‘Cheek To Cheek‘ (Transatlantic 7in) running from the false finish the “pop! glug glug glug” intro of Maureen McGovern ‘The Continental‘ (20th Century) which fits the pause and final finish perfectly, so that Maureen’s music starts as Pasadena ends. If this is of interest to anyone, (a) you could have the mentality to really make money on mobile gigs, (b) let me know and I’ll tell you more trade secrets!

ELECTRO-DISCO

THE WAREHOUSE in Leeds, Mike Wiand’s flashy showcase, has well established futurist nights every Monday with jocking by Marten, whose current chart this is . . .

Next Wednesday (3) Rusty Egan joins Stevo with Soft Cell and Ronny live at Nottingham’s Rock City in Talbot Street for Stevo’s “Nightclubbing Dance Night”, where there will also be promotions for other various bands and for the Despatch glamour rag — they’re aiming for a large crowd (£1.50 admission) but ya gotta look good to get in! In Liverpool at Cagney’s, Steve Proctor now expands his successful futurist night to Sundays as well as Thursdays (I thought you called yourself Steve X?), with the possibility of several star-studded apres-gig parties. Speaking of stars, the Village People have moved to RCA with a New Romantic image replacing their macho man look — or, at any rate, they’re now posing in medieval clothes to match their new LP’s ‘Renaissance’ title. It’s interesting to note now how nearly all the non-“disco” records in Billboard’s US Disco Top 100 are British, twenty in all from the UK, and most from our own Electro-Disco chart. And finally Esther, Alan Gibson of Edgbaston’s Faces complains that he’s finding it increasingly difficult to break new material by anyone other than established futurist stars, his regulars immediately going for the names they know but resisting equally good music from those they don’t. In fact, truth to tell, a lot of his punters don’t want to hear anything new at all but would be quite happy with just ‘The Model’, ‘Psycho Killer’, ‘The Passenger’ and Spandau Ballet oldies all night long. As Gibbo says, “Chris Hill doesn’t play ‘And The Beat Goes On’ and ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’ every night does he?” Actually, there’s a thought . . .!

RECORD SHACK . . . GOSSIP FROM THE SHACK

Editors Note: Record Shack appeared happier with James in last weeks advertisement and peace appeared to have broken out. However, when the ad went to press, they obviously hadn’t seen his review of their latest release by Michael McGloiry….(“Zingily rattling fast pounding dated 127bpm 12in gay galloper, well enough made in kinda vocal Harry Thumann style, the flip’s cooler ‘Version Two’ being hotter when initially warm on import a few weeks back. Jazz-funk it ain’t, by any stretch of the imagination! Doubtless you’ll be reading how well it’s selling somewhere soon”)…. and they aren’t happy! They use up valuable advertising space this week to say:

“Well, James thinks Michael McGloiry is a gay galloper WELL DEAR, YOU SHOULD KNOW!! It ain’t James, and you know it, and what’s more, I’m not gonna crawl to you for good reviews!”

The fall out reaches a surprise conclusion in 2 weeks time….

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First mention of Grandmaster Flash and not a particularly glowing one although as JH probably wasn’t thinking about breakdancing the stops and starts he mentions would seem clever but pretty pointless – I don’t think anyone knew about breakdancing in this country for at least another year.